TMZ Sports - Page 50

The United States Congress has inserted itself in the Ray Rice scandal ... the House Judiciary Committee has just fired off a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell ... demanding that he come clean.

The letter -- signed by 12 members of the Committee and obtained by TMZ Sports -- notes that Goodell has said he had requested the video but never got it. But the Committee is skeptical, writing, "To our knowledge the public has not been informed as to specifically how and in what context the request was made, and specifically how relevant law enforcement responded."

TMZ has reported ... Goodell's request was to law enforcement but NOT the Casino, which would have gladly anted up the video. And we reported Rice's lawyer had a copy.

The Committee goes on, "Nor has there been a full explanation as to whether the video was requested of others, such as Mr. Rice's attorney or the casino where the incident occurred (and if not, why not), or whether any employees, agents, or consultants of the league or any of its teams outside of your office had access of the video prior to September 8."

He ran a crappy investigation, but Mike Golic says Roger Goodell will NOT lose his job over the Ray Rice debacle ... in fact, Golic says Goodell deserves to stay in power.

The co-host of ESPN's "Mike & Mike" radio show was out in NYC -- when he stated his case.

Too soon? Apparently not ... according to Gilbert Gottfried who finally decided to put Ray Rice in the comedy crosshairs.

"Obviously Ray Rice misunderstood me when I said 'She's hot, you should definitely hit that!'" ... Gilbert tweeted.

Cracking jokes on timely news stories is kinda Gilbert's thing -- and he also knows there can be consequences ... like when he was fired from his job as the voice of the AFLAC duck back in 2011 after joking about the tsunami in Japan.

Senator John McCain says Roger Goodell has serious "credibility issues" ... and should get Condoleezza Rice on the phone ASAP to help clean up his mess.

McCain was out in D.C. Tuesday when he was asked how he felt about the Ray Rice video and how the NFL was handling the situation -- and that's when McCain fired the shot at Goodell.

As for talk that Condoleezza could replace Goodell as NFL Commish, McCain doesn't exactly sign off on that -- but says Rice "would be a good person for [Goodell] to call in and have a discussion with."

He adds, "I think she could help him."

FYI -- Condoleezza is a huge football fan and has expressed interest in the NFL job before. She's currently on the College Football Playoff Selection Committee.

As for McCain, he took one last parting shot ... at his beloved Arizona Diamondbacks.

President Barack Obama's ongoing rivalry with Donald Trump may have hit him where it really hurts -- the golf course ... as the Prez was reportedly denied a tee time at one of Trump's famous courses over Labor Day weekend.

Obama tried to get tee times at Trump National Golf Club in Westchester County, NY -- but his advance team was turned away ... according to WNBC. A couple of other top notch courses -- the Winged Foot and Willow Ridge -- also refused the Commander-in-Chief.

WNBC says the club managers explained that giving the President a tee time would require shutting down the whole course and stiffing their own high-paying members.

But c'mon, Trump would have made an exception ... if Barack had a birth certificate on him.

Floyd Mayweather says Ray Rice is far from the WORST of the domestic abusers in America -- only problem is that Ray got caught on video.

Mayweather -- who spent time in jail for beating up his baby mama a few years ago -- spoke to Fight Hub TV and said he's pulling for Rice ... "I wish something positive out of the situation."

And that's when Floyd tried to explain why Ray's attack wasn't that bad compared to other wife-beaters -- "[There are] a lot worse things that go on in other people's households also ... it's just not caught on video."

There's more ... when asked about his own domestic abuse case -- Mayweather used the O.J. Simpson defense to try to explain why he was wrongly convicted a few years ago.

"I'm pretty sure that with my situation, no bumps, no bruises, no nothing ... with OJ and Nicole, you seen pictures. With Chris Brown and Rihanna, you seen pictures. With Ochocinco and Evelyn, you seen pictures."

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says he does NOT expect to be fired for the way he handled the Ray Rice situation ... claiming he's "used to criticism."

Goodell spoke with Norah O'Donnell on CBS News Tuesday night -- and he assured her his job as the head of the league is safe.

Sure it is.

And get this ... even after he saw the video from OUTSIDE the elevator, Goodell told O'Donnell it was "ambiguous what actually happened."

O'Donnell shot back -- "But what was ambiguous about her laying unconscious on the floor being dragged out by her feet?"

"There was nothing ambiguous about that," Goodell admitted ... "That was the result that we saw. We did not know what led up to that. We did not know the details of that."

With racist-ass racist Bruce Levenson on the outs ... TMZ Sports has learned NBA legend Dominique Wilkins is actively trying to become the next owner of the Atlanta Hawks.

Multiple NBA sources tell us ... Dominique is "extremely interested" in becoming the next owner of the Hawks -- and has already been pre-approved for ownership by the NBA.

We're told Wilkins -- who has amassed his own small fortune over the years -- has partnered up with a "very well-known businessman" who believes Wilkins would be the best person to lead the Hawks back to NBA glory.

Of course, Levenson recently tendered his letter of resignation as current Hawks owner after an incredibly racist email he wrote back in 2012 came to light ... in which he complained that too many black people were attending his games.

Wilkins played for the Hawks for 12 years during his NBA career ... and was a 9-time All Star ... and they still LOVE him in the ATL.

Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti says the team DID try to obtain the Ray Rice elevator video from the Revel Hotel & Casino ... but were initially shot down ... and simply gave up.

Bisciotti just penned a letter to fans ... saying, "You deserve an explanation" -- and spells out how the team handled the Rice situation from the start.

In his letter, Bisciotti says ... "We contacted the casino management and asked if there was video of the incident from inside the elevator that we could see. The casino would not share such video."

He claims the Ravens then contacted police and prosecutors -- but were shut down then, too.

But Bisciotti says the team's hunt for the video officially ended in March -- when Ray was charged with aggravated assault.

"At this point, we decided to defer action until completion of the court proceedings. We stopped seeking to view or obtain a copy of the video. We halted our fact-finding."

Bisciotti admits ... "That was a mistake on our part."

The police had seen video from inside the elevator. The prosecutor and the judge, who had also seen such video, allowed Ray into the program that would eventually clear him of the assault charge.

The Ravens owner says the team did not see the footage from inside the elevator until Sept. 8th -- when TMZ Sports posted it -- and team honchos made a quick decision to fire Rice.

"Seeing that video changed everything. We should have seen it earlier. We should have pursued our own investigation more vigorously. We didn’t and we were wrong."

Roger Goodell is now doing somersaults to explain why he didn't simply go to the casino and ask for a copy of the Ray Rice elevator video.

Goodell told CBS News, he knew a tape existed and went to law enforcement and asked for a copy but the request was rejected.

So why didn't he then simply go to directly to the source -- the Revel Casino?

Goodell said, "I don't know how TMZ or any other website gets their info. We are particularly reliant on law enforcement, that's the most reliable, the most credible. We don't seek to get that information from sources who are not credible."

THIS MAKES NO SENSE. The police got the tape from the casino, so the police video CANNOT be more credible than the source.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... casino employees told us if the NFL would have requested the video they would have gladly provided it, but no one asked.

An NFL source told TMZ, Tuesday afternoon ... Goodell felt it would be wrong to "go around" law enforcement by contacting the casino and looking at the tape. But we're told all law enforcement told Goodell is they're not giving him the tape -- not that him looking at the tape would interfere with their investigation. Fact is ... it wouldn't.

Ray Rice's wife just WENT OFF on Instagram -- cussing out an Internet troll who ripped her for defending her husband.

Janay Rice hurled the expletives at a user named "Gossipallday" -- who had commented on a post Janay wrote this morning in which she defended Ray and blamed the media for ruining their lives.

"Gossipallday" wrote ... "Girl shut the hell up!!! Weak ass little girl!!! How dare you, excuse your HUSBAND'S behavior for a check??!"

Janay fired back ... writing, "And who asked you! Bitch bye get a f**king life and stop worrying about mine. Typical lame broad."

Earlier today, Ray had said Janay was strong and the family was "in good spirits" -- but it's clear, she's still very much on edge.

Notorious New York Rangers fan Tim Robbins gave his 55-year-old body a workout by playing street hockey with a few friends in Santa Monica recently.

Ray Rice is now talking about how he's handling the fall-out in the wake of the brutal elevator video ... saying, "I have to be strong for my wife."

One day after Ray was cut from the Ravens and suspended by the NFL, Rice opened up to ESPN ... telling the network, "[Janay] is so strong. We are in good spirits."

Ray continued, "We have a lot of people praying for us and we’ll continue to support each other. I have to be there for [Janay] and my family right now and work through this.”

The NFL NEVER contacted the casino to request video of Ray Rice brutalizing his fiancee ... TMZ Sports has learned. Commissioner Roger Goodell made his disciplinary decision in the dark, which raises the question ... Is that the way he wanted it?

Sources connected with the Revel Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City tell TMZ Sports ... NO ONE from the NFL ever asked for the video inside the elevator ... video that was compelling enough to get Rice instantly fired.

Sources who worked at the casino at the time of the incident tell us ... if the NFL had asked for the video, they would have gladly complied. Former employees have told us someone with an affiliation to the NFL saw the video, but we are now certain that someone was not from Goodell's office or the core NFL executives.

Without video ... Goodell blindly justified the initial 2-game suspension, based on the only evidence they had -- from the two people in the elevator, who called it mutual combat.

Multiple sources tell TMZ Sports ... the casino made a copy of the elevator surveillance video for police. We're also told Rice's lawyer had a copy of the video, which he got in the criminal case.

An NFL source tells us they requested "any and all information" from law enforcement in the criminal case but got nothing because it was a pending case. But the NFL had other options ... namely going to the casino or Rice's lawyer -- but the NFL never bothered to ask.

BTW ... it may sound crazy for Rice's lawyer to voluntarily hand over the video, but the NFL had a lot of leverage ... in the form of severe penalties if Rice didn't ante up the tape.

So the question ... does the NFL have incompetent investigators, or was it just easier to protect a player and turn a blind eye to video that would have forced Goodell's hand? Both scenarios are pretty disgusting.

Former NFL running back Marion Barber brought a LOADED HANDGUN into a church and flashed it to churchgoers ... this according to a police report obtained by TMZ Sports.

We broke the story ... 31-year-old Barber was arrested on June 15th and held for mental evaluation after an incident at a church near is home in Mansfield, TX.

According to the police report, cops were first called to the scene after the former Dallas Cowboys star entered a church with a loaded 9mm handgun -- and 3 magazines ... containing 51 hollow-point bullets.

When cops got to the church, officers say Barber seemed disoriented -- and one cop says "He heard Barber state he did not know what year it was or where he was at."

Cops spoke with a pastor at the church who told them ... Barber had been speaking erratically inside the church and "removed his jacket showing the congregants his firearm in public."

According to the report, a doctor from the Dallas Cowboys was en route to the scene -- unclear if he ever made contact with Barber.

Barber was eventually arrested around 8pm -- and was held for "mental detention and observation."

Several Baltimore Ravens players are saying ... they will not treat Ray Rice like an outcast -- and have vowed to support him as a friend ... team sources tell TMZ Sports.

Our sources tell us ... multiple players have already reached out to Ray to let him know they won't turn their backs on him in the wake of new elevator video showing the running back attacking his then-fiancee.

We're told Ray has apologized to some of his teammates for his actions and has said that he is actively seeking counseling and going to church in an effort to move on with his life.